On Monday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Kimmel turned up on stage with a wicked black eye and a bandage. The host chose to explain what happend with a dramatic re-enactment – taking some liberties with his own casting – and revealed that he gave it to himself.
But ever the sport, Kimmel turned his pain into a pretty amazing Paula Deen joke. Watch the clip above, then send Kimmel and his poor face some love on Twitter.
Also on HuffPost:LONDON (Reuters) - Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, according to a statement on his website on Monday.
The British heavy metal group's original lineup is writing and recording its first album in 33 years, and the band members will move from Los Angeles to London in order to work with Iommi while he undergoes treatment.
"His bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time," the statement read, adding that the new album was still scheduled for release in the autumn.
"Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan -- the 'Iron Man' of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery."
Iommi, 63, is a founding member of Black Sabbath, one of the most successful hard rock acts in history who have sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.
The veterans announced in November that they were reuniting in their original four man line-up, including Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, for their first new album in more than three decades and a 2012 world tour.
The quartet released their last studio album of all original material in 1978 with "Never Say Die."
Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979, leading to changing lineups for several years. The original foursome reunited for a 1998 release and played sporadically together in the early 2000s.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
LONDON – The Black Eyed Peas have pulled out of this week's Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales.
Organizers say the band, whose hits include "I Gotta Feeling," has withdrawn due to "unavoidable circumstances."
Christina Aguilera, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Leona Lewis and Cee Lo Green are on the bill for Saturday's "Michael Forever" show at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Chris Hunt, chief executive of event organizer Global Live Events, said Wednesday that the concert would be a "fantastic evening," despite the absence.
The show is not affiliated with Jackson's estate, but his mother Katherine and other relatives are scheduled to attend.
Organizers have rescinded an offer to the band Kiss over singer Gene Simmons' past criticism of Jackson.
LONDON – The Black Eyed Peas have pulled out of this week's Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales.
Organizers say the band, whose hits include "I Gotta Feeling," has withdrawn due to "unavoidable circumstances."
Christina Aguilera, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Leona Lewis and Cee Lo Green are on the bill for Saturday's "Michael Forever" show at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Chris Hunt, chief executive of event organizer Global Live Events, said Wednesday that the concert would be a "fantastic evening," despite the absence.
The show is not affiliated with Jackson's estate, but his mother Katherine and other relatives are scheduled to attend.
Organizers have rescinded an offer to the band Kiss over singer Gene Simmons' past criticism of Jackson.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson have joined the line-up of a controversial Michael Jackson tribute concert in Britain.
Promoters said the U.S. group and the "Dreamgirls" Oscar winner would perform at the "Michael Forever" tribute in Wales on October 8, along with Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Motown legends Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson.
The tribute has the backing of Jackson's mother Katherine but siblings Randy, Germaine and Janet have said they will not be attending.
Black Eyed Peas co-founder will.i.am said Jackson's music had been an inspiration to him growing up in Los Angeles, and recalled working with the "Thriller" singer in 2007.
"The Black Eyed Peas wouldn't miss being at the Millennium stadium for this gig on October8: we all owe Michael such a lot," will.i.am said in a statement.
Grammy-winner Hudson, a former "American Idol" contestant, won an Oscar for her role in the 2006 movie musical "Dreamgirls."
The tribute concert comes more than two years after Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol.
But the venture has been plagued by problems, including criticism by some Jackson fans and the official administrators of Michael Jackson's estate over the line-up, ticket prices and confusion over charity donations.
The concert will take place during the trial in Los Angeles of Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Prosecutors have charged Murray with responsibility for Jackson's death and accused him of administering a lethal dose of anesthetic to help the singer sleep. Murray has pleaded not guilty.
Opening arguments are scheduled to begin on September 27 in the four to six week jury trial.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
LONDON – The Black Eyed Peas will perform at next month's Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales.
They'll join Christina Aguilera, Smokey Robinson and Cee Lo Green at the "Michael Forever" show.
Frontman Will.i.am — who worked with Jackson before the pop star's death in 2009 — said Friday "we all owe Michael such a lot."
He said Jackson's songs "have been an inspiration to my whole life and certainly formed the soundtrack to my childhood."
The Oct. 8 concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will be hosted by actor Jamie Foxx.
The show is not affiliated with Jackson's estate, but his mother Katherine and other relatives are scheduled to attend.
Organizers rescinded an offer to the band Kiss over singer Gene Simmons' past criticism of Jackson.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards will feature an indoor black carpet, a theme of the space-time continuum of music, and something from Lady Gaga that we've never seen before.
That's the word from MTV president Stephen Friedman and VMA executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic, who revealed the concept behind this year's show exclusively to TheWrap, as well as an exclusive look at the stage design.
"We were looking at our audience and the way they interact and engage with music today, and thinking, how do we bring that to television?" said Ignjatovic, who pitched his concept to MTV back in January.
"You can go to your computer and hang with the new Kanye track, and then go to an Otis Redding track. Or listen to Katy Perry and then jump to the '70s and listen to Led Zeppelin.
"So our jumping-off point was that idea of people being able to engage with music in a timeless way, on transporting you on a journey through a space-time continuum of music."
Also along for the journey, Friedman revealed, will be the latest round of show participants, who were confirmed on Tuesday: Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Zoe Saldana, Victoria Justice and Kevin Hart. MTV announced Wednesday that Beyonce had been added to the list of performers.
As for this space-time continuum thing, it'll start with the red carpet -- which won't be red, and won't be outside the Nokia Theater.
Instead, the black carpet will travel through the lobby of the adjacent J.W. Marriott hotel, and it will create an immersive environment that kicks off the theme of the show.
But have no fear, diehard MTV watchers: the preshow will also feature red-carpet hostess Selena Gomez and the cast of
"Jersey Shore."
"They're going to be in attendance," said Friedman of Snooki, the Situation and crew.
"They'll definitely be involved in the pre-show. And we're trying to figure out a way to fit some of them into the show as well."
That show, as MTV previously announced, will also include a tribute to the late Amy Winehouse and a salute to the not-so-departed Britney Spears.
It will begin with a performance by Lady Gaga, about which Friedman will only say, "It's something the world has never seen from her. The last time she performed on the show she raised the bar, and this is going to be unlike anything she has ever done."
Then again, reinventing the wheel is the whole point of the VMAs; where most awards shows have a firm template and can only make minor changes year to year, MTV's extravaganza varies dramatically from one show to the next. (The channel may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but they barely mentioned the milestone except on their older-skewing sister channel VH1.)
"We almost have to do that, given who our audience is," said Friedman. "Every few years we have to reinvent everything to stay in touch with our audience. And with this show, the presumption is that if we did it last year, we really don't want to do it this year."
"It's almost a year-round job," added Ignjatovic. "You finish one show, and you have to immediately start thinking about what you should do differently next year."
Still, both men know that what viewers remember about the VMAs -- far more than many of the planned set pieces, and certainly more than who wins the awards -- are the unexpected water-cooler moments that can't be mapped out in advance: Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to sing the praises of Beyonce, Eminem snapping at Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and feuding with Moby mid-show.
"There's no question that we can plan up to a certain point, but the show has an energy to it and things are going to start happening," said Ignjatovic.
And when Kanye has his "imma let you finish" moment while Swift is trying to talk, what goes through their minds backstage? "Oh my God, what's happening?", or "This will be a great water-cooler moment!"?
"The honest answer?" said Friedman. "Both."
(This version of the story corrects performer to Beyonce from Rihanna in paragraph 17)
NEW YORK – It's gonna be a good, good night in Central Park.
Black Eyed Peas fans who missed out on seeing the group in New York City when a June concert was rained out are getting a second chance.
Front man Will.i.am (wihl eye am) on Wednesday announced a new date for the show, on Sept. 30. The concert is a benefit for the Robin Hood Foundation, an anti-poverty organization.
The free concert is expected to draw up to 60,000 spectators to the park's Great Lawn. Those who won or bought tickets to the June 9 show will get emails with instructions on how to claim their replacement tickets. A small number of additional tickets will also go on sale.
The show initially was delayed an hour because of severe thunderstorms and lightning, and then was scrapped.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pop music stars The Black Eyed Peas have rescheduled their "Concert 4 NYC" to September 30 after extreme weather in June forced organizers to cancel the Central Park event, Will.I.Am announced on Wednesday.
The Black Eyed Peas singer and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a joint news conference to unveil the new date and tell the 54,000 ticket holders to the benefit concert that they could now claim new tickets.
"I don't know where to begin to tell you how proud I am to be performing here at Central Park for our rescheduled date," band member Will.I.Am said, "And how sad I was when it got canceled because of lightning."
The Black Eyed Peas, comprised of Will.I.Am, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo, are among the biggest hip hop and pop music acts of the 2000s having scored hit records such as "My Humps," "Let's Get It Started," and "Where Is the Love?"
The Central Park event will benefit Robin Hood, a poverty-focused charity in New York City and fund the creation of three new sites for The Black Eyed Peas' Peapod Music and Arts Academies, which cater to disadvantaged and foster children.
The site of the show, Central Park's 55-acre Great Lawn, has long hosted annual concerts for the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as the occasional show by some of the biggest names in music like Diana Ross, Bon Jovi, Simon & Garfunkel and Garth Brooks.
"There's nothing quite like a concert in central park," Bloomberg said.
(Reporting by Paula Rogo, Edited by Christine Kearney)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi on Tuesday denied a report that the veteran British rock band was getting back together in its four man original line-up.
British paper The Birmingham Mail had reported that Iommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne, bass player Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward had begun rehearsing for a tour and a new studio album for release next year.
It quoted Iommi, 63, as saying the original foursome, which dates back to 1969, was looking forward to performing together again.
But in a statement on his official website on Tuesday, Iommi said he was just speculating and described the report as "absolute nonsense."
Iommi said the journalist had taken "a conversation we had back in June and made it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion.
"At the time I was supporting the Home of Metal exhibition and was merely speculating, shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, "Are you getting back together?"
"Thanks to the Internet it's gone round the world as some sort of "official" statement on my part, absolute nonsense," Iommi said, apologizing to his three bandmates.
Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979, leading to a revolving line-up for a number of years. The original members got back together for the 1998 album "Reunion" but split again afterward.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Will.i.am, science teacher?
With flashing lights, electric dance breakdowns and even some of his own robot-esque moves, the Black Eyed Peas singer is no stranger to the intersection of art and science.
Now, in his latest project, he's has teamed up with Segway inventor Dean Kamen's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program, to take his new message to kids.
Based on an international youth K-12 robotics competition of 30,000 educators, students and parents in St. Louis, Missouri, in April -- which will.i.am pumped up with live performances from the Peas and Willow Smith -- the rapper has executive produced a one-hour ABC special based on the event.
Its goal: to get students more excited about science by emphasizing innovations in everyday life.
Scheduled for August 14 and called "The i.am FIRST: Science Is Rock & Roll Back-to-School Special," the show also features Bono, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Steven Tyler and more sharing testimony to the importance of the sciences.
" love technology," will.i.am told TheWrap. "Think about our world right now with the economic crash. Apple stock is cool ... and for some reason everyone's still signing up for Google+. Google is cool, Facebook is cool -- think about what's sitting comfy when everyone else is uncomfortable: technology."
"Who's making the Wii and the Xbox Kinect?" he said. "You'd probably think these people are geeks, but you can't wait to get that gear."
Kamen's FIRST program provides tools that can be integrated with educational curriculum to increase access to quality education in the sciences. With over 2,500 schools already on board, it has been lauded by companies such as Google, Microsoft, CNN, GE.
As for his own scientific prowess, the Los Angeles native laughed, "Not even gonna front. I wasn't good at science in school, but that doesn't mean I don't like it," he told TheWrap.
will.i.am gained wide video notoriety during as an early supporter of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, with his video "Yes We Can."
When asked if he will revisit political organizing for the upcoming 2012 election, he said that his educational initiatives are how he sees himself involved this time around.
"I want to surround myself with whoever has solutions, he said -- refusing to endorse any particular candidate. "I endorse the youth. I vote for giving the youth the opportunities they need to go out in the world and contribute, so we can compete with other developing countries. I endorse good solutions to change inner-cities, that give kids educational opportunities they don't have."
OAKLAND, Calif. – Tyler Thompson is an unlikely star in the world of Chinese opera.
The black teenager from Oakland has captivated audiences in the U.S. and China with his ability to sing pitch-perfect Mandarin and perform the ancient Chinese art form.
"As soon as he opens his mouth and sings in Chinese, the Chinese are very surprised and then feel very proud of him," said his music teacher Sherlyn Chew. "When he puts on the costume, and all the acting, you can see that he's pretty good."
Tyler, 15, is a standout student in Chew's Oakland-based Purple Silk Music Education program, which teaches children and youth — mostly from low-income immigrant families — how to sing and play traditional Chinese music. The program's Great Wall Youth Orchestra & Chorus has performed around the country.
Tyler has learned to sing several well-known pieces of Chinese opera, a centuries-old form of musical theater known for its elaborate costumes, clanging gongs and cymbals, wide-ranging vocals and highly stylized movements.
At the World Children's Festival in Washington in June, Tyler, dressed in a black robe emblazoned with golden dragons, got a standing ovation when he performed as Justice Bao, a famous Song Dynasty judge who fought government corruption, from the Chinese classic "Bao Qing Tian."
"The music is very beautiful, and it's very passionate. You can hear it when it's being played," said Tyler, a theater student at the Oakland School for the Arts. "It's made me want to know more about the world outside of America or California or Oakland."
David Lei, chairman of the Chinese Performing Arts Foundation in San Francisco, has seen Tyler perform several times and arranged to have him sing at the opening of a Chinese opera exhibit several years ago.
"It's very authentic because he hits the tones just right, so you understand everything," Lei said. "People just don't expect an Afro-American kid to be doing it. It's the initial shock. There's a sense of novelty."
Tyler, who comes from a music-loving family, began learning how to sing in Chinese a decade ago when he was a kindergartner in Chew's music class at Oakland's Lincoln Elementary School, where about 90 percent of students are Asian.
Chew quickly recognized Tyler's talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.
"I really took a liking to him and thought he had quite a large range," said Chew, who started the music program at Oakland's Laney College in 1995. "He hears pitch very well, and his pronunciation of Chinese characters is very accurate."
Tyler's mother, Vanessa Ladson, said her son's education at a predominantly Asian elementary school and participation in the Chinese music program have made him more open-minded.
"He's grown a lot," she said. "He's learning a different culture, and the Asian children are learning his culture, so it's a plus-plus for everybody."
Tyler said friends and classmates sometimes poke fun at him, wondering where a black kid from Oakland learned how to sing Chinese opera.
"Sometimes they don't understand it," Tyler said. "It's just joking about the fact that as dark as I am, I'm singing Chinese. What's up with that? If I go to China, I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb. It's just those types of jokes. All in good fun."
Since his first solo at age 6, Tyler has performed at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theater, on television shows such as "Good Morning America" and at the U.S. State Department, where he sang for then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.
Tyler became a sensation in China several years ago after Chinese Central Television broadcast his performance at a Lunar New Year show in San Jose.
Tyler, who has learned to speak some basic Chinese, was scheduled to make his debut performance in China in July, but he and his mother ran into trouble getting visas in time, Chew said.
In recent years, Tyler has begun studying theater and acting more seriously, but he plans to keep performing traditional Chinese music, which has opened up a world of opportunities to him.
"I've been sticking to this to see where else it will take me," he said.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Amy Winehouse's music was said to be a big influence on Adele's. And for at least one week, these two British neo-soul sisters get to share the top 10, as Winehouse reentered the Billboard album sales chart at No. 9, while the indomitable Adele moved back up into the top position.
Winehouse's breakthrough "Back to Black" album, released in America in 2007, sold 37,000 copies for the sales period -- virtually all of that between Saturday morning, when her death was announced, and Sunday night, when the SoundScan sales week closed.
Her numbers could be as big or bigger on next week's chart, which will reflect a full week's worth of posthumous interest in the tragic star.
Her far lesser known debut album, "Frank" -- which was only issued in America after "Back to Black" became a smash -- also reentered the chart, at No. 57, after selling 7,600 copies over the weekend.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, more than 95 percent of Winehouse's album sales were digital downloads, which is not surprising, given how most music retailers shy away from carrying catalog nowadays and might have had one CD, at most, in stock.
Things were a little less soulful in the No. 2 position. The franchise that won't die, Kidz Bop, had another strong bow for its latest volume of child-sung songs, which includes heavily bowdlerized versions of provocative hits like Britney Spears' "Till the World Ends" and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."
"Kidz Bop 20" entered in second place on sales of 69,000, a typical debut for the series.
On the downswing, rock band 3 Doors Down entered two doors down from the top spot they're accustomed to. "Time of My Life," the group's fifth album, sold an initial 60,000 copies -- well under half the 154,000 units their previous effort debuted with three years ago (and an even farther sight away from the six-times-platinum status the outfit mined at their peak).
Other debuting albums included DJ Khaled's "We the Best Forever," a personal best at 53,000 units, bowing at No. 5; rock band 311's "Universal Pulse," in at No. 7 with 46,000; and They Might Be Giants' "Join Us," which joined the Billboard 200 at No. 32.
All of last week's top entries experienced at least a 60 percent decline, and only Blake Shelton's held on well enough to stick around the top 10 at all. The "Voice" coach's "Red River Blue" sold another 47,000 and dropped from the top position to No. 6.
With so little competition, Adele's "21" climbed back to No. 1 by selling 77,000. It was the album's 11th non-consecutive week at the top, meaning it's dominated all other albums in exactly half of the 22 weeks it's been out.
With a total of nearly 2.8 million copies, "21" continues to race far ahead of the pack in year-to-date sales.
The digital singles chart saw scant new action.
The highest new entry was at No. 26, for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Adventures of Rain Dance Maggi." The leadoff track for the funk-rockers' upcoming album had first-week sales of 57,000.
A collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West, "Otis" -- a teaser from one of the year's most anticipated albums -- did less spectacularly than expected, selling 44,000 to enter at No. 40.
LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" continued to dominate among digital songs, with another 209,000 downloads, raising the tune's total to a true-reason-to-party 2.5 million. As expected, Demi Lovato's unusually stark ballad, "Skyscraper," took a steep dive after the initial interest in her comeback, plunging from No. 2 to No. 27.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Irish author John Banville has been lauded as one of the greatest literary stylists of his generation but his recent kick as a crime writer, churning out a murder mystery every year, has him giddy with excitement.
"I am in my 60s with a new lease on life. It's fun," Banville said in an interview to promote "A Death in Summer," written under Banville's pen name Benjamin Black and published in the United States on Tuesday.
The book finds dour, bumbling pathologist Garret Quirke trying to get to the bottom of the apparent suicide of a Dublin newspaper owner. Banville tells readers, only partly in jest, to expect an "absolute masterpiece of crime fiction."
The story unfolds in 1950s Dublin, the time of Banville's childhood when he thought the Irish capital was an exotic place -- a setting he says he is still transported to in his mind every time he smells the whiff of diesel from a passing bus.
In his latest page-turner -- the fifth book written under the Black name in as many years -- Quirke's assistant David Sinclair has an affair with his daughter Phoebe.
"There is a childish pleasure in it. It's like playing with toy soldiers," he said. "When I wake at four in the morning, instead of thinking about death, or sex, or my bank balance, I think, 'What will I do with Phoebe or Sinclair?'
"I am making up stories," Banville said. "This is the great pleasure of writing .... It's the making of yarns, which I was never interested in before."
Banville makes it sound like childish fun, but critics are smitten. Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times that "his Black persona has been such a success that he looks increasingly like the Superman to Mr. Banville's more literary Clark Kent."
LITERARY DOUBLE LIFE
Explaining the difference between Banville's finely crafted fiction such as "The Book of Evidence" or the Man Booker Prize-winner "The Sea" and his work as Black, Banville speaks in the third person and calls Banville an artist and Black a craftsman.
"Black was able to help Banville," he said over breakfast at the Knickerbocker Club on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, explaining that the Banville novel he just completed, "Ancient Light," was improved by his crime fiction.
"Black has got used to doing plots and keeping all that balanced, and Banville has learned some of that from him," he said.
In "Ancient Light," he revisits his novels "Eclipse" and "Shroud." Narrator Alexander Cleave thinks about the suicide of his daughter Cass and a sexual affair he had as a teenager with a friend's mother in a small Irish town.
As Banville, he said, he writes with a fountain pen at a pace of a few hundred words each day, while as Black, he churns out more than a thousand words daily on a computer.
As Black, Banville now has the unusual pleasure of outselling his own Banville books in some countries.
"This is partly why I started being Black -- to give Banville a day job," he said.
Banville said he is turned off by graphic depictions of violence both in crime novels and in Hollywood movies. He derides the hugely popular Stieg Larsson novels as crude stories "written with the blunt end of a burned stick."
Black's leading man Quirke will soon be on television, thanks to a planned series by the BBC of three 90-minute mysteries. And, Banville said, he is planning more crime books until he can conjure some redemption for Quirke.
"If I get to a point, five, six, seven books from now ... where Quirke is in some way redeemed, then I will probably stop," he said.
Meanwhile, he will keep eking out his Banville books in the hope of writing what he is striving for -- the perfect novel.
"My books are better than anybody else's. They are just not good enough for me," he said. "What any writer is after is perfection, but that is not available.
"I will never achieve perfection, so I will keep on and on and on and I will die with a pen in my hand and I will feel as I am dying, 'Now, maybe, I will go to a place where I can write the perfect one,'" he said, adding, "Fat chance!"
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – More than the film that surrounds him, Jack Black is worth the price of admission in "Bernie," an oddball May-December true life crime story that would have profited from being a whole lot darker and full-bodied than it is.
It took Richard Linklater the better part of a decade to put together this seriocomic look at Bernie Tiede, a fastidious, devout mortician who befriended the crabbiest rich old lady in Carthage, Texas, and was later tried for her murder.
The result, however, comes across as less impassioned than mild-mannered, a conflicted portrait of small town attitudes but, most importantly, an opportunity for Black to sink his teeth into a role unlike any he's ever played before. It's hard to imagine what the audience may be for this odd duck of a film, which opened the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival on Thursday and has no distributor as yet, but it's safe to say that the box office tally won't come anywhere near that of the previous Linklater-Black collaboration, "The School of Rock," eight years ago.
In the summer of 1997, 40-year-old Bernie Tiede was arrested for the murder the previous year of 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent, a multimillionaire heiress with whom he had been living. No one in the tight-knit, religious town could believe it, as Bernie was considered the nicest, most considerate man in the world, especially as he had been able to charm and disarm the widely detested Marjorie, who hadn't talked to her own offspring in years.
Working with co-writer Skip Hollandsworth, whose Texas Monthly article served as the basis for the script, Linklater presents Bernie through the eyes of the citizens of Carthage, literally so, as a vast array of genuine locals, mostly older folk, offer up interview-style comments throughout to illuminate aspects of the main characters. While some of these remarks are amusing for the opinionated, down-home tenor, Linklater relies upon them far too much, to the point where they seem like a convenient crutch to avoid dramatizing issues and make Bernie feel more like a docudrama than it should.
Introduced at the outset as "an artist in the embalming room" after he arrives in town to take the job of assistant funeral director at the local mortuary, Bernie is an immaculately groomed gentleman with impeccable diction and a mincing walk who often places his clasped hands on his large belly when he talks. Endlessly solicitous of everyone he encounters and ever-ready with the right words for the bereaved, he has a particular appeal for the little old ladies of the small town where everyone knows everyone else, even if his sexual orientation remains the subject of considerable local debate.
"All the widows in town had a crush on Bernie," one witness confides, so it is regarded with some astonishment when he becomes close to Marjorie (Shirley MacLaine), the universally reviled old crab apple who deigns to speak to no one. Slowly melted by Bernie's extravagant attention, Marjorie soon has him move into her mansion, the walls of which are festooned with the full bodies of large hunted animals, takes him on extravagant trips and writes her grown children out of her will, leaving everything to Bernie.
With Marjorie's murder at the 50-minute point, the tone unavoidably shifts, but more from the turn of events than from any stylistic control the director engineers. For nine months, the always reclusive Marjorie is barely missed but, when her remains are finally discovered, Bernie is arrested and tried by wily D.A. Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey).
The material offers possibilities for all manner of artistic approaches: Deep black comedy, mordant character study, a look at social mores and hypocrisy, a consideration of legal and religious attitudes. Black's marvelously judged performance, which is drippingly ripe but pitched just enough toward seriousness to be entirely credible, brings to mind such previous high-wire acts as, on the benign side, Charles Laughton's priceless turn as the obsequious butler in "Ruggles of Red Gap" and, in the malevolent direction, Alec Guinness' memorable predator in "The Ladykillers."
In all events, Black's characterization is strong enough to have accommodated any approach, but Linklater establishes no incisive point of view or sense of a bigger picture; in the end, the film is too mild for the insidious incident that anchors it.
Carthage, in East Texas, is clearly positioned as being "where the South begins" rather than as culturally unified with the rest of the state, and the film's sense of regional specificity has keen appeal. Although indisputably expressing Marjorie's hatefulness, MacLaine gives a one-note performance with no variable human traits running underneath, while McConaughey provides a creepy undercurrent to his good ol' boy lawman.
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)
For an a cappella group that began in 1973 and won three Grammys, Ladysmith's voice is still resilient and timeless. Original member Albert Mazibuko tells PopEater the group strives to sing to more generations to come, especially with new album 'Songs from a Zulu Farm' on the way.
What did it mean to you when Nelson Mandela referred to you as cultural ambassadors of your nation?
This was the highest honor for us. To be singled out by Nelson Mandela told us that we needed to look at ourselves, as a group, differently. We truly represented our nation and had to continuously understand that responsibility.
Do you see the group as more about music or sending a message, acting as teachers?
That is an interesting question. I think the message is most important, but we use the music to deliver the message. And in doing so we want to be teachers. It's really all as one -- very intertwined for us. I guess we see ourselves as teachers bringing a message through our singing.
Watch a live performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo:
How's the progress with the Mambazo Academy? Is it completely built yet?
Sadly, the progress is very slow. There are so many things changing in South Africa and only a little bit of money to go around. We do spend most of our spare time, when we are home, teaching the young ones about the culture and its history. But doing so in an organized academy has not occurred.
You've collaborated with so many notable musicians like Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon. What's your best memory from those experiences?
Yes, we have been honored to be asked by so many famous and important people, so to pick just one out is very difficult. Of course the Paul Simon memory is the most important for us. We recently worked with Josh Groban, and I think this was different because he is of a new generation, and when we met him he showed that he really loved what we do. So knowing our singing has affected a new generation of artists was touching.
You've also provided music for so many films. Do you find it surreal that moviegoers see these movies and hear your voice without knowing it?
I've met people who say, "I saw this movie and it sounded like the filmmakers copied your sound for the film," and it turns out it was us. So it is funny to see people's reactions when they learn that what they heard was actually us.
The group has shifted over the years. Which years had the best ensemble?
Well, the group we are now has been pretty steady since 1993. Since then we lost a couple of members, but 1993 was important to us. That is when our leader, Joseph Shabalala, had three of his sons join the group. This is the next generation of Mambazo. So, after us older fellas move along they will carry on for many years. Joseph has said the group is more than one or two people. It's a cultural entity that should continue on for decades.
Do you compare your success at all to that of Buena Vista Social Club? If so, what do you think of them?
I've heard of that group but I do not know their music. I think there is a community of cultural groups that should continue on for many years. They are truly one of them. I know the Chieftans too. And the Blind Boys of Alabama. I'm glad to know all of these groups have success.
Is there any kind of new music today that you like? American pop music, perhaps?
It seems a new sound or style comes along every few years, and it all has something interesting to say. I like hearing where music goes, how it changes, the sounds and styles. I have to say I most enjoy simple singing. I don't like when they use machines to manipulate voices. Pure vocal is the most beautiful sound to listen to, I feel.
